Grain cleaner



Dec. 6, 1938.

' w. A. s. BEATTIE GRAIN CLEANER Filed Oct 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1WALSBEATT/E BY 0 6i 7 4% a.

Patented Dec. 6, 1938 GRAIN CLEANER Wilford A. S. Beattie, Makaroff,Manitoba, Canada Application October 21, 1935, Serial No. 45,959 InCanada October 22, 1934 8 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in grain cleaners and an object ofthe invention is to provide a device of the character herein describedwhich will clean grain more thoroughly and cfficiently than previouscleaners of this nature and is especially suited for the removal of wildoats, etc., from the grain.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterherein described which in is simple in operation and will not easilybecome out of order.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterherein described which may be folded and is thus transportable.

1.5 A still further object of my invention is to provide a device of thecharacter herein described, which is simple to construct and economicalto manufacture.

With the above more important objects in view 20 and such other minorobjects as may appear as the specification proceeds, my inventionconsists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all ashereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to theaccompanying 5 drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a side elevation of my improved type of graincleaner.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 shows a plan view of my invention.

39' Fig. 4 illustrates one of the adjustable bearings that I use with mydevice.

Fig. 5 illustrates a combination universal joint and sleeve which I alsoincorporate in my invention.

5 In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

My invention consists of a framework l composed of end plates 2maintained in position by 40 a plurality of cross bars 3. Attached tothe lower end plate, I provide a longitudinally angulated sup-port 4which serves to prevent grain from passing beneath my device from thefront thereof or vice versa.

5 The rear portion of my grain cleaner is sup ported upon adjustablelegs 5 and 5, each composed of an upper section 5 attached to theframework I by hinges l and a lower section 8 fastened thereto by bolts9 passing through slots Ill there- 50 in to allow lengthwise adjustmentthereof.

In order to provide a firm and unitary structure, I also furnish strutsll passing from the cross bars 3 to the lower leg sections 8, thesebeing adjustable thereupon by means of a slot l2 and a pin l3 passingtherethrough. Across the rear portion of my device adjoining the twolegs 5 and 5', I attach a longitudinally lying brace l3 widened at theright end as at I4.

In opposite sides of the framework l are mounted rollers l5 and IE onshafts I! and I8 5 journalled within the end plates 2. The shaft I1 isinserted within the adjustable bearings l9 illustrated most clearly inFigure 4 of the drawings accompanying this application, which consist ofa rectangular section 2*!) provided with an orifice 1 El therein andslidably mounted within a slot 22, the adjustment thereof beingaccomplished by the screws 23. The use of these bearings allows me tovary the distance between the rollers and thus the tension upon atraveller or apron 24 which I pass therearound. This traveller may becomposed of fabric such as flannelette or other suitable materialpossessing a nap. The diameters of the upper ends of the rollers I1 andI8 are reduced to receive a belt 25 suspended intermedially upon a shortdrum mounted upon a stub shaft 21 journalled at one end within the upperend plate 2 and at the opposite end within a bracket 28 fastened to oneof the cross bars 3.

Covering the upper surface of the traveller 24 25 and in close proximitythereto, I furnish a shield 21 suspended from a plurality of angle bars28 extending between the end plates 2 and adjustably attached thereto bybolts and wing nuts 29 engaging with slots 30 within turned sections at30 either end of the angle bars.

Immediately subjacent the travellerand at the right side thereof whenviewed from the rear, I attach a number of cross strung wires 39' heldin close relation to the traveller for the purpose of removing any grainadhering thereto when in motion.

I-Iingedly attached to the upper end plate 2, upon the struts 3|, Iprovide a recipient chamber for the uncleaned grain in the form of ahop-per 32 supported at the front by adjustable braces 32', whileextending across the outlet aperture thereof is a grain feeder,consisting of a ridged drum 33 mounted upon a shaft 34 which is in turnjournalled within the ends of a hopper 32. Upon the outer end of thisshaft, I attach a friction disc 35 as herein illustrated which isrotated in a manner later to be explained. Immediately below the hopperaperture, I furnish a rearwardly sloping sieve 36 with a meshsufficiently 5o fine to pass onlysmall seeds and the like therethroughand, therebeneath I attach a forwardly sloping pan 3'! along which theseeds precipitated thereon, may slide to fall upon and be dischargedfrom a converging chute 38.

39, is also precipitated from the front end-thereof onto the chute 38from where it is discharged.

Both the sieves 36 and 39 and the pan 3! are pivotally attached to thedepending supports 40;

the forward ends of which are firmly joined by spacing bars 4|. Apivoted connecting rod 42 is attached to the lower sieve and theupperend thereof engages with the crank 43 so that a rotative movementapplied tothe friction disc. 44 on one end of the crank shaft 44", willcause;

a shaking or agitating motion of the sieves and the pan 31.

Attached to the side walls of the front portion of the hopper, I furnishangulated supports 45 and between the lower ends thereof, I mount aroller 45' on a shaft 46. A companion roller 45 is similarly mountedbetween the lower ends of the.supports 40 and is designed to be rotatedby a pulley 41. Around these rollers, I place a conveyor which consistsof a wide belt 48 provided with a plurality of crosswise extendingridges 49 thereupon. It will thus be evident that rotation of the pulley41 will cause motion of the conveyor, the upper end of which issupported above the open traveller 24.

At the rear of my device, I provide a hand crank 50 mounted upon asupport 5| which is in turn attached to the leg 5. Upon the crank shaft52, I attach a bevel gear 53 which meshes with a further gear 54attached to an upwardly disposed shank 55 passing through a bracket 56made integral with the support. The upper end of the shank 55 is squaredand fits into a recipient socket within a sleeve 56, having a universaljoint 51 made integral therewith. The shaft 58 extending upwardly fromthis joint is journalled Within a bracket 59 projecting from andintegral with the upper end plate 2.

A bevel pinion 60 upon the shaft 58- is designed to mesh with a similarpinion 6| mounted. upon a stub shaft 62 which passes through the upperend plate 2. A further gear 63 is provided on the inner end of the stubshaft and meshes with a gear 64 attached to an obliquely positionedshaft 65 carrying a roller 66 thereon. This roller is designed to bearagainst the under side of the traveller 24 to re-condition the napthereupon in a manner presently to be explained.

In order to transmit power to the mechanism associationwith the hopperof my device, I employ a longitudinal shaft 61 mounted on bearings 68and 69 possessing bevel pinions at either end thereof, one of whichengages with the above mentioned gear GI and the other with an obliquepinion 10 mounted superjacent a common gear H which meshes in turn witha gear of asimilar nature upon the roller shaft [8. Above this gear, anoblique pinion 12- is attached to engage with a similar pinion [2 uponthe shaft 13 mounted upon bearings 14 and 15 attached to the hopper andstrut 3| respectively. This shaft'is designed to carry two frictiondiscs wand 16' which engage. with the feeder and agitator discs- 35 and44 and also to carry the pulley 1T around-which a cord is passed totransmit power to the;conveyor pulley 41 hereinbefore mentioned;

The construction of my device. having" been.

described, its mode of operation will now be presented.

Rotating the crank 50 will of course actuate the above mentioned systemof gears and cause a rotary motion to be imparted simultaneously to thetraveller 24, the oblique roller 66, the rotary feeder 33 within thehopper, the conveyor 48 and the agitator crank 43. This latter member incombination with the connecting rod 42 will impart a shaking motion tothe sieves in an obvious manner.

Now assuming a sample of uncleaned grain is placed; within the hopper32, this will be fed therefrom onto the fine sieve 36. Small seeds willpass-therethrough and fall onto the pan 39 and from thence onto thechute 38. The remainder of the sample will slide down this sieve and beprecipitated onto the upper end of the large mesh sieve 39. Grain andmaterial of a like size willpass through this sieve but coarse materialsuch as straw, etc. will be impelled forwardly thereover to join thesmall seeds in the chute 38. The'grain which has passed through thelarge mesh sieve falls upon the conveyor 48 where it is carried to thetop of the traveller 24 to be deposited thereupon. This grain will nowmove downwardly over the traveller but wild oats and such material willbe held thereupon by adhering. to the nap thereof. Edible grain,however, will slide off the lower end of the traveller but to preventthis grain from bouncing and moving too fast. thereover with thepossibility of dislodging wild oats thereon, the superjacent shield 28held in close relation to the traveller is provided. will be now brushedoff by the wire 30 and restoration of the nap thereon is accomplished bypassing against the obliquely rotating roller 66.

In order to facilitate transportation of my device, I. have arrangedthat it may be formed into a. somewhat more compact structure than whennormally operating by disengaging the struts. H and folding the legs 5and 5 against the under side of the traveller 24. The removable shaft 55within the sleeve 56 allows this operation to be conveniently performed.

While operating my grain cleaner, I have found that the mostsuccessfulresults are obtained by adjusting the slope of the traveller thereon tosuit the. requirementsof different samples of grain possessing variousquantities of foreign matter and for this reason, I provide theadjustable legs Sand 5' hereinbefore described.

From the foregoing description, it will now be evident that I havedevised a type of grain cleaner which removes all. foreign matter fromthe edible grain in a most efficient and thorough manner and yetrequires simply the manual operationofa crank to obtain this result.

Since various modifications can be made in the abovev invention, andmany apparently widely different embodiments of same, made within thescope of the claims. withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof,it is intended that all matter contained in theaccompanyingspecificationshall be-interpreted as illustrative only and not inalimiting sense and I desire. only such limitations placed thereon as arespecifically expressed in the accompanying claims.

What I claim as my invention is:-

l. A grain cleaning machine comprising a transversely inclined.traveller in the form of an endless apron having a nap'surface,stringers disposed transversely to the path of travel of said apron, anobliquely'disposed'nap restoring roller 76:"

All material adhering to the traveller operated by a common source ofpower in rotatable engagement with said traveller in association withsaid machine.

2. A grain cleaning machine comprising an inclined frame, a pair ofinclined rollers, a continuous traveller in the form of an endless apronhaving a nap surface mounted upon said rollers, means for dislodgingmaterial adhering to said nap surface, a hopper for reception ofuncleaned grain, a plurality of sieves situated beneath said hopper forpartially cleaning said grain, means for depositing said partiallycleaned grain upon said traveller, means for maintaining said grain uponsaid traveller in close intimate relation thereto and means forrestoring the nap of said traveller following the removal of saidmaterial adhering thereto.

3. A grain cleaning machine comprising a frame, an inclined traveller inthe form of an apron having a nap surface, situated therewithin, ahopper for the reception of uncleaned grain mounted above saidtraveller, means for feeding said uncleaned grain from said hopper, aplurality of sieves in association with said hopper for partiallycleaning said grain and sieve agitating means attached thereto, aconveyor situated beneath said sieves for depositing said partiallycleaned grain on the upper portion of said inclined traveller, astringer for removing material from said apron and an oblique roller forrestoring the mm of said traveller to its normal condition, said rollerbeing in. contact with said traveller mechanism in association with saiddevice for simultaneously actuating said apron, conveyor,

grain feeding means, sieve agitating means and said oblique roller andmeans for manually operating said mechanism in association with saiddevice.

4. A grain cleaning machine comprising a framework, adjustable legsattached thereto for varying the slope of said framework, a continuousinclined traveller in the form of an endless apron having a nap surface,mounted within said framework, a hopper pivotally attached to saidframework and means comprising a brace for adjusting the slope of saidhopper, said hopper being provided with a longitudinal apertureextending therewithin, a toothed roller within said aperture for feedinguncleaned grain from said hopper, a plurality of sieves situated beneathsaid aperture to receive and partially clean said grain, a crank andconnecting arm for agitating said sieves, a conveyor in the form of aribbed belt located beneath said sieves, said conveyor being actuated todeposit said partially cleaned grain upon the upper portion of saidtraveller, a plurality of stringers extending transversely to saidtraveller for removing material adhering thereto, an oblique rollersituated in rotatable engagement with the return portion of saidtraveller for restoring the nap thereof to its normal condition, gearmechanism in association with said machine for simultaneously operatingsaid traveller, conveyor, sieve agitating crank, hopper feeding rollerand said oblique roller and a crank attached to said mechanism foroperating said,

device.

5. Improvements in grain cleaning comprising a framework, 2. pair ofinclined rollers mounted within said framework, a traveller in the formof an apron having a nap surface extending around said rollers, areceptacle for uncleaned grain mounted above said traveller, means forpartially cleaning said grain before application to said traveller,stringers for removing material adhering to said traveller and anobliquely disposed roller in contact with said traveller for restoringthe nap thereof to its normal condition.

6. Improvements in grain cleaning machines comprising a framework, apair of inclined rollers mounted at either end of said framework, acontinuous traveller in the form of an apron having a nap surfaceextending around said rollers, an adjustable hopper for the reception ofuncleaned grain mounted above said traveller; means for partiallycleaning said grain before application to said traveller, means formaintaining said partially cleaned grain in contact with said traveller,means comprising a stringer for removing matter adhering to saidtraveller, and an obliquely disposed roller in contact with the returnportion of said traveller for restoring the nap thereof to its originalcondition.

'7. The device asclaimed in claim 6 in which the means for maintainingsaid grain in contact with said traveller, comprising a plate mounted inclose relation to the surface of said traveller.

8. In a device of the character herewithin described, a transverselyinclined traveller, means for feeding grain adjacent an upper edgethereof, and means for restoring the nap of said traveller in adirection adapted to retard the movement of selected grains, said meanscomprising a rotating roller obliquely disposed adjacent the fabric ofsaid traveller.

WILFERD A. S. BEATTIE.

